BlackBerryJuice

I've got 2 unsolicited compliments in less than 24 hrs! Today, a friend of mine (who knows about my surgery) saw me in my tight gym clothes and later texted me to say "OMG, your body looks amazing! What's your BMI, like 22?" And yesterday at a party, a friend who doesn't know about my surgery came up to me and randomly asked me "What's the secret to your toned arms?" I'm quite flattered, especially about the last comment, since she doesn't know about my VSG!

I'm not quite sure, I didn't apply any fancy lotions or try any lasers. I do make my boyfriend give me massages several times a week, usually with some sort of body butter, lol. I also lift weights regularly. I have a tiny amount of loose skin, but it's not something that'd prevent me from wearing a bikini or something like that - hoping it will tighten up. I've been remarkably lucky in the boob department, too - of course, they don't look the same as 34 DDs on someone who's never been overweight, but they are nowhere near as saggy as I was worried they'd be - so there may be a genetic component to how much my skin snaps back. None of my relatives have lost a large amount of weight, so I can't determine how much of my skin tightening is thanks to genetics.

Exercise is very important for losing weight and even more so, for keeping it from creeping back on. At 7 months out, I can tell you that I can definitely consume more calories than I need - so if not for my 4-5x/week gym habit and generally trying to walk more, I'd probably be a lot more worried about potentially regaining. What happens when you diet without exercising is you lose a ton of muscle in addition to fat - it can be as high as 50% of overall weight loss. So first of all, you continue to be out of shape; second, you are more likely to look like a melted snowman after the weight comes off, rather than having a trim, taut body; and most importantly, your metabolism slows down drastically, compared to someone who exercised and maintained their muscle mass or minimized muscle loss. Slower metabolism = less food needed to overeat and gain weight = greater odds of regaining the weight (or, as in your case, lower odds of losing more). Not to mention, exercise has tons of other benefits besides helping you lose or maintain weight. Overweight (<30 BMI) people who exercise regularly do better on basic health tests such as lipid profile than slim people who are inactive. There's a proven connection between being sedentary and being in poorer health, whether you are overweight or not. There are also mental benefits - exercise improves moods and decreases stress. I recently went to a talk by a public health researcher who suggested that there may be a direct connection between the lack of physical activity in our society and the high rate of depression and other mental health problems. And, anecdotal personal experience - if I don't exercise for a while, I feel like crap, and once I exercise, I feel tons better. So regardless of what your focus is, I would add some form of exercise to your program.

I checked yesterday, and the bodyfat measurements at my school only include BMI, waist circumference, and calipers. I'm not sure why anyone would pay to have their waist and BMI measured when you can do it for free yourself/online, but I digress. Calipers aren't the best from what I know - they are good for tracking changes, but not so much for determining the correct number. I guess the Bod Pod thing is only available to research labs here, I couldn't find a way for someone to just walk in, pay, and get measured. Boo!

Also, I recall reading somewhere that taking magnesium supplements tends to help with chocolate cravings around PMS time. See if your multivitamin has enough Mg in it.

My boyfriend bought me a ton of chocolate a few months after the surgery, which led to my overeating on a couple of occasions - although nothing like the 20-piece binges I would've had before the surgery! I eventually just told him to stop buying me chocolate unless I specifically ask for it. Your husband was probably just trying to do something nice, not sabotage you. After years of treating you to food you like, he might be having difficulty thinking of non-food things he can bring (or do) to make you happy. Maybe throw out some suggestions? As far as chocolate, I agree with the person above who said try sugar-free hot chocolate. Buy some good quality cocoa powder and brew your own hot chocolate on the stove with some milk and splenda. Cocoa is actually very good for you - lots of Fiber and antioxidants - it's all the sugar they throw in it that makes chocolate bad!

Endometrial ablation is a good treatment for very heavy, debilitating cycles (the kind that makes women go for a hysterectomy), but you have to make sure you are done having kids. I have bad cramps on the first day (requires ibuprofen if I am to function) and manageable cramps on the 2nd day. This hasn't changed since losing weight, unfortunately.

Bfast: coffee with cream, Protein bar Lunch: piece of quesadilla, green salad Snack: yogurt, cookie Snack: another piece of quesadilla Dinner: birthday debauchery at a place called CHOCOHOLIC BUFFET. Yup, promises to be interesting. Doubt I'll eat too much, though - if I eat too many sweets these days, it just makes me feel gross, so I'm bringing some tupperware to see if I can haul some of the loot back home. Workout: day off, but I did join this impromptu 20-min yoga session at lunch.

I'm thinking of getting mine measured just for kicks, we have a Bod Pod at our university, which is the gold standard for bodyfat measurements. But I have no idea how/where to actually book the thing - and whether it's reasonably priced! If it's like $300, I'm definitely NOT gonna bother.

Ha, reminds me of how my boyfriend was all worried coming back from vacation 2 weeks after my surgery thinking he wouldn't recognize me at the airport. It's like, come on! Even if I dropped 10% of my weight (21 lbs!), how could I be unrecognizable!

Haha, I read that as "half a Miller Light." I was like, "Now THAT's what I call breakfast!" Bfast: coffee, Protein bar Lunch: half a tuna salad wrap (with cheese and vegs) Snack: banana Early dinner: other half of the wrap Workout: 1.5-hr ballet lesson Dinner: not sure yet, might go out with bf, might just snack on something at home - yogurt, oatmeal.

I don't find that the sleeve prevents me from attending social functions, including those that revolve around food. In fact, I went out for lunch with friends 4 days after my surgery - the day after I flew back home! We just went to a Vietnamese restaurant and one of my friends ordered pho (soup) and we requested a second bowl for me. She just poured some of her broth for me, and that's it! And you are almost 3 months out, so you should be able to eat basically anything at this point. Surely there are SOME restaurants you could go to where healthier options are available. I wouldn't go to a burger place, but practically every restaurant has a selection of salads or some sort of "healthy" entrees. Even Denny's has some "fit" platter among their breakfast options. Just carry tupperware with you for leftovers and you're set!

These bodyfat measures are BS. I've got cuts everywhere save for my glutes and inner thighs and it's giving me 32%. I'd estimate my bodyfat to be around 20%, and the bulk of it being around my ass. A similar type of calculator once told me I was 32% at 170 lbs, and I've definitely got more muscle mass now than I did back then - AND I'm 30 lbs lighter.

I eat as many carbs as my heart desires, as long as I get in enough protein. I think 95% of people on this board would pop an aneurysm if I posted an actual amount. Let's just say today I had pasta, two bananas, AND chocolate ice cream. Doesn't seem to hinder my weightloss efforts in the slightest.

I got sleeved at 25, also at a relatively low BMI (just under 35). The only upside to getting sleeved at 25 rather than 20 (when I first hit the "obese" range) I can think of is that these extra years gave me an opportunity to grow emotionally and understand where some of my eating urges were coming from and to deal with them to the best of my ability. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't get my issues 100% under control - hence why I had the sleeve - but at 20, I was still occasionally making myself vomit after binges and I had terrible body image. At 25, I still binged, but no more barfing - and while I knew I was fat and wouldn't parade around town in booty shorts, I had no qualms wearing a bathing suit to the beach. It was nice to have the body image issues mostly sorted out and the eating disorder out of the way. Being older and financially independent also allowed me to have the courage to remove the greatest stressor and the biggest emotional eating trigger out of my life (my father, in case you are wondering).

Thanks. My skin is not looking too bad, there's some looseness in the inner thighs and at the bottom of my buttcheeks, but I'm just crossing my fingers that in a few months, it'll snap back. If not - oh well. When my peers and I get into our 40s, no one will be able to tell!

Definitely! Mexico has a huge Medical Tourism industry. Tons of Mexican physicians and surgeons whose aim is to primarily serve North Americans train in the US and return to Mexico to rake in the cash. For every questionable surgeon in Mexico, I've got you an RN or a doc in the US, Canada, or Australia who have killed patients, purposely maimed them, or otherwise caused terrible problems (like that pathologist in Ontario). But because they are "us" and not "them," we don't make sweeping xenophobic generalizations about North American healthcare providers.

Welcome back! Jealous that you are in California, I was just in San Fran 2 weeks ago. It was a nice change from the still-subzero temps here. And I love Target! They are expanding into Canada, except for they are having some issues because there's already a similarly named apparel company here (way worse), so who knows how long it will take to work out the legal issues.

Personally, I found that 1 size = appx. 10 lbs loss for me. I was about size 18 at my highest weight of 208, and now I'm a size 6 at 140. So depending on how much weight you are planning to lose, it means you'll need new clothes every 3-6 weeks. I'd stay away from buying tailored things, like slacks - these stop fitting properly within 2-3 lbs and are a pain to tailor. I've bought many dresses, especially those that are roomy or have belts that allow the waist to be cinched in, and skirts - they are quite easy to take down a few sizes. For pants, I stuck to stretchy jeans, and Ebay or Winners (kinda like Marshalls or TJMaxx) for dressier pants if I needed them.

Couple of weeks from now you'll try a bite of all these goodies and realize they don't taste good to you anymore! There were so many things I couldn't wait to have post-surgery and when I did, none of them were as good as I remembered them being! McDonald's cheeseburgers, ice cream, Nutella - sometimes I'll have a few bites of either, but they never rock my boat like they used to and if I never saw them again, I could care less.

Thanks, girls! Funny thing, I feel that I eat treats much more often now than I did before my surgery - but I'm no longer fat! I always thought "If only I got the binging thing under control, I shouldn't have any problem losing weight and keeping it off." I guess I was right! It's impossible to binge with the VSG. While I have a few pieces of chocolate or half a pastry practically every day, I will NEVER eat an entire bag of candy or pint of ice cream again! If I try to eat more than one pastry or too many chocolates, I just feel grossed out by the sweetness/greasiness. Thanks! When I was pondering the surgery, my mother kept telling me to wait until I finished school and started working, so it wouldn't be as much of a financial burden. But I'm a major stress eater, and I knew that once I got to clinical years, I'd stress-eat constantly. I didn't want to risk getting to 300+ lbs and developing health problems, and having to worry about 30 pounds of loose skin. Plus I'm definitely a lot less tired now, so the prospect of being on my feet for 12+ hours a day is no longer daunting. But it's awkward sometimes....the other day, my boyfriend suggested to his coworker/good friend that he try going out with their young, single receptionist. The guy's reaction? "My friends would make fun of me if I was to be spotted with that cow." Ironically, "that cow" is quite a bit smaller than I was at my heaviest. So you know what he thought about me back in the summer.....I try not to focus on things like that, but it's hard.

I'm in medical school, about halfway through.

Yeah, but if you are not doing a drug deal or roaming around alone in an industrial area at 4 am, you can't really compare. As I was doing neither, I felt quite safe in Mexicali. On the other hand, I got held up at gunpoint in Chicago in broad daylight one time, just going about my business on the street.